Hurunui / Jollie Brook to South Branch, II
Jollie Brook is an excellent teaching area, and slalom competitions are occasionally held at the put in. There is good camping at several locations; one just up the road, through a gate, has a long-drop toilet.
Shallow boulder gardens for about 3km to South Branch (an alternate put-in and take out). Several bluffs, eddy lines and waves (at the right flow) provide playable features. Dozy Stream is often used as a put-in to extend the Maori Gully run.
To get to the take out: Drive up the Lake Sumner Road to the bridge across Seaward Stream.
To get to the put in: Continue up Lake Sumner Road to the swingbridge across the Hurunui River below Jollie Brook stream.


5th January 2010
The recent northwesterlies have lifted the Hurunui to quite high flows. Most of the water is coming down from Lake Sumner, so the upper gorge and the Grade 2 sections between Jolliebrook to Seaward are running high with big waves and a few munchy holes. For novices it's probably a bit of a handful, unless they are with experienced paddlers. A swim could be unsettling.
Maori Gully is almost washed out at these flows. There are some splendid surfing opportunities.
Devil's Fang Falls just upstream of Dozy Stream is now a massive hole, centre to centre R, and is worth scouting on the drive in.
(Ecan flow gauge above 120cumecs to 200+.)
Posted for the benefit of visitors to Canterbury.... :-)